Many Effects
by happy4lif
Summary: When left alone, Shane Gray and best friend Lilly Truscott clean his attic. While cleaning, they find a mysterious chest that has a game in it called 'Banyak Efek' which means Many Effects. How much trouble can a game cause? Don't underestimate it...
1. Laying Down The Rules

Stupid game. I hate that stupid game. That is why we are in this mess. Of course, I didn't really want to even play the game. Playing it was all Shane's idea and I really didn't want to go against my best friend. Plus I had nothing to do. But, that stupid game lead us to this.

--- _(A couple hours earlier) _---

It was a beautiful Friday afternoon in spring and I was watching the tree branches blow swiftly in the wind out the classroom window. I checked my watch and it said 2:49. Class was going to end in one minute then I can run to my locker, put my books away, get my skateboard, then skateboard, while Shane walks, to Shane's house. You see, me and Shane are best friends and have been since we were born. There is a one year age difference; he is eighteen and I am seventeen but it doesn't matter to us.

I live in New Jersey with my dad since my parents are divorced. Shane's parents have known my dad since the three of them met in preschool. They stood by my dad when my dad, John, found my mom, Heather, cheating on him with the mailman. It wasn't a pretty sight that afternoon when I was nine but the Grays' let me stay at their house that entire day.

The bell rang and I ran out of the classroom like a bat out of hell. I sprinted to my locker and quickly put in the combination. When I was about to grab my skateboard, someone else took it from my locker. I turned around to get the person who stole my skateboard when I found that my best friend had it. His dark brown almost black skater-boy hair was in his eyes. In one swift move of his head, there were to the side. His olive skinned muscular hand still had my skateboard.

"Must you steal my skateboard?" I asked sarcastically as I grabbed for my skateboard.

Shane retaliated in a girly voice, "Must you wear two black scrunchies made into one bracelet on your wrist?" I began to laugh as I finally took my skateboard out of his hand. He laughed along and we began our walk to Shane's house. As we were heading there, I took in what he was wearing since I didn't get a chance to see him before that day. Shane was wearing black skinny jeans, of course, a blue shirt with rows of lighter blue and darker blue squares on it, a white vest over it that was left unbuttoned, and a red and white rope thingy around his forehead.

I laughed on the inside. This was classic Shane. Plus, he would always wear skinny jeans, even in the summer. That guy and his skinny jeans. I swivel around a parking meter and we turn down a residential block. _I wonder what people think of my outfit, _I thought. Everyone knew Shane for being the outgoing and funny one of him and his brothers so almost all of his outfits were kind of expected. I never knew what people thought of mine. I got nice comments from Nate, Jason, and Shane but never from other guys at my school.

I looked down at my outfit quickly before looking up so I wouldn't hit anything. I was wearing gray skinny jeans, green Converses, a green short sleeve shirt, and that black bracelet that was made out of the scrunchies that are supposed to go in my hair. I had my dirty blonde hair in a short braid but bottom 75% of it was a low ponytail that went over my right shoulder. My side bangs were pushed to the right but were still kind of getting in my eyes.

Shane made a right at an enormous brick house. Ok, so maybe Shane and his family are rich but that doesn't matter to me. I founded Shane as we went up the driveway. I jumped off my skateboard and walked into the house after Shane. Mrs. Gray came out from the kitchen with a towel in hand. She put the towel over her shoulder and hugged Shane, than gave him a kiss on both cheeks. Did I mention that Shane and his family was mostly Italian but almost never acted like it but only in greetings? Well, yeah, now you know.

Mrs. Gray walked over towards me and I put my skateboard gently on the floor. She pulled me into a hug also. I smiled as I hugged her back. Mrs. Gray pulled away and examined me. "My, oh my. Lilly, are getting bigger every day," said Mrs. Gray. I smiled bigger because every time I come over Shane's house, she would always say the same thing. I am pretty sure I am done growing but I just let Mrs. Gray just continue her usual routine.

"Thanks Mrs. Gray," I said. She nodded at me and smiled as she noticed my hands.

"Still wearing black nail polish I see," she said to me. I laughed a little and smiled. Mrs. Gray smiled back at me. I felt so good because Mrs. Gray always treats me like her own daughter all the time. At the moment, I noticed Shane over Mrs. Gray shoulder. He was shoving a cupcake into his mouth and he saw me. Shane put his finger to his ajar lips and I giggled a little since Shane wasn't supposed to have too much sugar because there is no telling what could happen.

"He's eating a cupcake, isn't he?" Mrs. Gray asked me as she rolled her eyes. I laughed a little. Mrs. Gray took this as her signal that he, indeed, was. She turned around and began to walk up the stairs, laughing and shaking her head at the thought of her eighteen year old son. I looked back over at Shane and saw him happy dancing that he wasn't in trouble.

"You are such a dork," I said to my best friend, trying to hold in laughter. I jumped up and sat on the island in the Grays' kitchen. Shane jumped up and sat next to me.

"Well, you are than dork by association," Shane said. I rolled my eyes at him. Mrs. Gray came back down stairs in a black dress. Mr. Gray was following behind in a black tux and two luggage bags in his hands. I jumped off the island, along with Shane and we walked over to them. Mrs. Gray was putting earrings on while looking in the mirror right by the front door when Mr. Gray looked over at us.

"Hi kids. We have to go to a benefit dinner and dance with your dad Lilly. It is to promote our new ice flavors and to attend some things for publicity." Oh and I thought I should let you know that Shane's parents seem to own a company known as Pink Berry. Maybe you have heard of it. "It will probably end around 3 in the morning. Do you think you two can manage Frankie?" said Mr. Gray.

"Wait. You're leaving for a benefit dinner and dance at 3:30 in the afternoon?" asked Shane. I nodded, for I agreed with his confusion as for I was just as confused. This time, Mrs. Gray turned around and answered.

"The dinner and dance is in Manhattan. It will take us about two hours to get there. Once we get there, we will check into a hotel." Me and Shane looked at each other with confusion. Why would they need a hotel? Mrs. Gray cleared up our confusion. "Sorry, but you're dad," Mrs. Gray said, looking at Shane than Mr. Gray "forgot to mention that we will be gone all weekend. We have other benefits and such to go to while in Manhattan."

"Mrs. and Mr. Gray? Will my father be there all weekend long too?" I asked simply. My father worked with the Grays' with the business since they own it together. They share the company and usually when one half of the company is going to something for publicity, the other half usually goes also.

"Yes, he is sweetie. He can stay here," answered Mr. Gray. I nodded. "So, can you two handle Frankie?" asked Mr. Gray.

"Absolutely," answered Shane. He began to push his parents out the door but Mrs. Gray stopped him.

"You also have to clean the attic. I want it clean by the time we get home. Oh and no parties." Mrs. Gray walked back into the house and grabbed her purse. She turned towards me and gave me a goodbye kiss on both cheeks. "Make sure nothing gets damaged." I nodded and laughed a little. Then, Mrs. Gray turned towards Shane. "Don't damage anything." She then smiled and hugged her son goodbye before kissing him on both cheeks and walking out the door with her purse in hand.

Shane closed the door and we walked over to the window and watched as Mr. Gray put the bags in the trunk of the limo, then heading off down the street on their way to New York. My father had called me about five minutes later, saying goodbye over the phone since he didn't have time to stop by over here. I said goodbye to him and hung up.

"What are you doing?" I asked Shane in an annoyed voice since he was already on his couch, feet on the coffee table, watching TV.

"What?" Shane asked innocently. I rolled my eyes, grabbed he remote, and turned off the TV. "That's not fair!" Shane semi-yelled at me. I rolled my eyes again and laughed a little. "Lilly! Lilly, can I please have the remote back?" I just threw the remote on the couch but before Shane could grab it, I grabbed his hand and began to get him off the couch.

"You're mom wants the attic cleaned," I said as I finally got him up.

Shane groaned and whined saying, "But I have the _whole_ weekend to do that!"

"But Shane, if you do it now, you won't have to clean it later." I saw Shane sigh. I knew I was getting close to him doing it. "I will even help you," I said, hoping that would get him to get his butt upstairs. He sighed even heavier and I took this as my chance. I grabbed his hand once again and ran up the three flights of stairs until we reached the top floor; the third floor. I dropped Shane's hand and pulled on the string hanging from the ceiling, causing a ladder to the ladder to come down along with a bunch of dust. I coughed and began climbing up. Shane sighed yet _again_ and followed me up the stairs.


	2. Starting The Game

**---Chapter 2---**

It has been two and a half hours since we began work on the attic. We are halfway done with going through everything. Let's see, we found a lot of interesting things like a bunch of knight armor, some old records (you know those things they made before CDs), a couple old guitars, and some old clothes from early 1800s to the 1950s. We were fooling around for a little like we tried on the old clothes, which, if I do say so myself, I kind of look really good in, Shane was playing with the guitars for a little, and we played some of the records.

I began to open some chest that Shane found in the back of the attic. I tried to open it but it wouldn't budge. Shane kneeled down next to me and pulled something out of his pocket. "Watch and learn, Lillian," he said. He put what seemed to be a key into the chest and opened it. We both stood up and I looked at him like he had seven heads. "What?"

"Where'd you find a key?"

Shane shrugged and said, "I found it in one of the boxes and thought I might hold onto it." I nodded and we began to rummage through the chest. I swear, it looked like it was a pirate chest or something. Anyway, we began pulling random things out. Some of it was crazy like a feather. Once we reached the bottom of the chest, we saw something we didn't expect. A game.

_Banyak Efek_

I picked up the box and studied it closer. The game was dusty and with one blow of air, the dust was gone… and kind of in Shane's eyes. "Sorry," I said quick. Shane rubbed his eyes and waved a hand at me, indicating that he forgave me. "Banyak Efek," I whispered.

"Huh?" said Shane confusedly as he walked over next to me, took the box, and examined the game. "Many Effects?" Shane finally said confused. Now this was my turn to be confused.

"How the hell did you know what that meant?" I asked, kind of shocked.

"That side was Indonesian but," Shane turned the box over, "this side is English." Shane smiled proudly. I took the box from his hands and read the box.

"'Many Effects'

Made in Indonesia in 1901

Players: 1-8

Instructions: Roll the dice, follow the game cards, and nothing else. Do as they say to win.

Objective: Win. Nothing else." I looked at the box even more confused. _What kind of game is this?_ I thought to myself. Shane took the game from my hands.

"Let's play!" he shouted excitedly as if he was five again. I shook my head.

"Shane, we should really finish this attic. Plus, we have to take care of Frankie like your parents requested." Shane looked at me for a second then ran down the stairs and onto the second floor. He was heading towards Frankie's room. He knew that Frankie was my weakness and I couldn't say no to him. I shrugged to myself and followed after him. By the time I had reached the bottom of the steps on the second floor, Frankie was already standing in front of Shane, both having the same excited smile on their faces, with the game in his hands.

"Frankie wants to play," Shane said as he pointed to a wide smiled Frankie. I sighed and nodded, knowing that I couldn't go against my best friend and we had nothing better to do until 10 year old Frankie fell asleep. I followed the two brothers down the stairs and into the living. Shane and Frankie were sitting on one side of the coffee table as I sat on the other. Now, as I looked at them, I couldn't believe how much Frankie looked like all of the Gray brothers put together but probably Shane the most, with his almost/ not fully grown skater boy brown hair. You would have to admit that if you ever saw him, he was adorable.

"Ok, so Shane, how about I set up and you go get us all something to drink," I said to Shane.

"Fine," Shane mumbled, slightly annoyed he had to get up after he _just_ sat down. I laughed and began to pull the pieces from the box. There was an old board that was used but it was in good condition. This was, after all, the first copy. In the center of the board, there seemed to be a small glass black circle with purplish, bluish smoke in it but when I lifted up the board to check underneath it, it was as flat and as wide as a monopoly game board. I was quite shocked. This was not what I had expected. Of course, as I learned later on, nothing about this game was what I expected.

I pulled out three game pieces. They were little crystal balls. As I placed the green (Frankie's), blue(Shane's), and black(mine) ones onto the start, I saw two other pieces on the board. They were red and purple. I reached over to pick them up but it was as if the game was made with the pieces on it. I looked in the box and saw that they were only three pieces left so I knew that those two pieces were supposed to be game pieces for people. I tried again but failed miserably as the game pieces remained still. I shrugged and began to rummage through the box, only finding the two dice and no cards.

"Frankie, you have milk, Lillian, you have Pepsi, and I, Shane, have Pepsi also," Shane announced as he walked back into the living room with three cups. I grabbed mine and took a sip before placing it onto the coffee table.

Frankie grabbed his drink from Shane and took a large gulp. "Yum! That was nice," he said, showing a smile and a tiny milk mustache. He wiped away his milk mustache on his sleeve and began drinking again. I smiled at how cute Frankie was but went back to looking for the cards.

"Hey Shane, has anyone ever used this game before?" I asked.

"Not my family. My parents brought the chest at a garage sale about two months ago. The guy there said he never used any of the stuff and so my parents brought it. Why do you ask?" Shane said.

I shrugged and said, "Well, those two pieces," I pointed to the red and purple pieces that were halfway through the game, "won't budge and I can't find the cards."

Shane sat back down next to Frankie. He took a drink from his Pepsi and sat it down in front of him on the coffee table. "Let's just play. We can avoid those pieces and as for the cards, maybe they will show up later on," Shane finally said after a long silence. I nodded my head in agreement.

"Me first!" shouted Frankie. I laughed and nodded my head. Frankie played with the hem of his short sleeve red shirt as he waited for Shane to sit down in the position he actually waited. Frankie was so polite. He was getting impatient though. Frankie began to play with the small hole that was on the shin of his black little skinny jeans. Frankie then quickly went to playing with the shoe laces of his black converse high tops. This kid had some really cool clothes at just ten but he looked so adorable. Frankie was just like a mini Shane with just a small touch of Nate and Jason in the clothing department. I smiled as Frankie couldn't help his impatient-ness. "Can I just roll now?" he asked dramatically. I laughed.

"Of course Frankie. Let the 'pop star' over there continue to get settled and you can go." This earned me an annoyed look from Shane but I kept on going. "Just roll the dice and move forward that amount of spaces." Frankie nodded and excitedly grabbed the dice as Shane finally settled into a comfortable spot. He rolled the dice. _Seven_. Frankie moved his hand and as it was hovering over his green piece, the piece moved by itself. We all stared wide-eyed at the piece as it moved seven pieces.

"Did it just-" Shane began to ask only to get cut off my Frankie.

"Move by itself?" he asked, shocked yet excited. After all, what did you expect from a ten year old?

"Uh-huh," I said, shocked myself. A sudden noise made us jump once the piece had stopped moving. _A card_. A card appeared under the glass, well crashed into it and made a noise, and the purplish, bluish smoke had begun to surround it. It looked like the card wasn't even there a moment ago. I checked under the board again but still, there was nothing. Shane peered over the glass and looked at the card. He began to sit back down slowly.

"Tank, you have to read it," he said, slowly turning towards his little brother Frankie. Frankie got up excitedly and gazed at the card under the glass. He began to read aloud what the card written on it…

Hey everyone! My name is Melinda!

This is my first fanfiction story and I hope you all like it!

Thank you to everyone that story alerted this/ author alerted me/whoever added this story to favorites! I appreciate it all! Thanks!

This story is kind of like Jumanji or Zathura but with my kind of twists.

Um, sorry for the long wait for an update but my mom was supposed to be on that planed that disappeared. Thankfully, she was too busy looking for gifts in the airport gift shop that she missed her plane so my mom is okay! So sorry for the family members of those on that plane.

On a happier note, I have another chapter coming today so yay!

Hope you all enjoyed!


	3. Cowboys & Indians Start The Mess

**A/N: Sorry to everyone who has been waiting. My computer crashed and I lost everything. Please forgive me for the long wait and I will try to get the next one out soon! Send me a message or review to tell me how you like it so far or if you have any ideas for cards or something! Any and all idea suggestions that I get will probably be used and you will get credit!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a laptop that always crashes. Yeah, that's about it.**

**---Chapter 3---**

_Frankie began to read aloud what the card had written on it…_

"_**Cowboys and Indians fight,**_

_**Bow and arrows flying through the night.**_

_**Gunshots ring throughout everyone's ears,**_

_**Cowboys and Indians fighting are what you should fear.**_" Frankie said, repeating the words that were written on the card. "What does that mean?" Frankie asked confused.

"Frank the Tank, I have no idea," Shane said. I nodded my head. "Lilly, you can go next."

"Okay," I said. I began to reach for the dice but when my fingers were about to land on it, a noise was heard from the library which was on the first floor aka the floor we were currently on. "Shane that sounded like a crash" I said, indicating that maybe someone broke in. Shane nodded, understanding my underlying meaning.

"Lils, take Frankie into the kitchen." I nodded as Shane got up and ran across the house like lightening, into the library. I hurried over to Frankie.

"C'mon Frankie, we are gonna go into the kitchen," I said, pulling the cute little boy up. Frankie dusted himself off then looked at me straight in the eyes.

"Lilly, what's going on?" he asked so innocently and quietly. I looked right back at him and told him the honest truth.

"Frank, I don't know." I paused for a moment. "We have to get into the kitchen." Frankie nodded and grabbed my hand. We began moving but Frankie stopped. "Franks, we have to get to the kitchen. We cannot stop." I looked down at the mess of jacks that had fallen off the table in the dining room and onto the floor. As we began picking them up, I looked over to Frankie.

"Frankie, how did these even fall?" I asked Frankie. Frankie looked at me, then down the hall and back at me.

"Something from the library hit them," he said. I froze where I was. Shane was in the library. I got up and was about to walk away when I dropped a jack. Instinctively, I bent down to pick it up. A moment after I bent down, an arrow shot across the hall from the library and went right through the spot where my head should have been. The arrow ended up hitting the vase behind where my head was just moments before, causing the vase to shatter.

"Frankie," I looked him dead in the eye and grabbed both of his shoulders and continued. "The kitchen is just a few feet away. I want you to run in there as fast as you can. Once you get there, I need you to run up the stairs in the kitchen and run into your room. When you get to your room, I want you to close and lock the door. Don't open the door for whatever reason unless it is me and/or Shane. Got it?" Frankie nodded. I was sort of surprised he could remember everything by how fast I was talking and how many instructions I gave him. I hugged Frankie tight and pulled away. I gave him a gentle push towards the kitchen and he ran off.

Once I heard Frankie's door close only moments later, I ran to the library not knowing what to expect. When I rounded the corner and entered the library, I saw Shane moving his head from his left to his right and back again. I looked at where he was looking and saw cowboys on the right of Shane and Indians on the left of Shane. He was caught in the middle of a battle.

"Shane!" I yelled. I seemed to not only get the attention of Shane but also the Indians and cowboys. _Oh boy. Did I mess things up or what?_ The Indians immediately had their bows and arrows pointed at me while the cowboys had their guns pointed at me. The leader of the Indians had given someone a signal. I saw his long brown hair move as he nodded his head toward his people. Tattoos made from natural ingredients covered his arms. His waist down was covered only by a cloth and his muscular chest was bare.

The cowboy leader nodded towards his people also. He had short blonde hair which was covered by a brown cowboy hat that you see in all the western movies. He looked young and in his early thirties while the Indian leader looked like he was in his late fifties. The cowboy leader had on a red shirt with a black vest. His brown pants had dirt on the bottom and his boots were covered with mud. I kept switching between looking at the cowboys and Indians. At once, both leaders said commands. When I was supposed to get hit, a force pushed me to the ground. I looked over at Shane and saw him also on the ground but he wasn't the one who pushed me.

As I turned back, I saw a girl with long black hair, who looked to be of Hispanic heritage, on the floor and out of breath. She looked about my age. I looked over my shoulder and saw the cowboys and Indians going at it, some of each side falling down from the shots and blows from each other. Shane got up first and helped me get up. We both looked at each other and quickly helped the girl up. She took one look at the two groups fighting and ushered us out the door.

The girl closed the door behind her and locked the library so that the cowboys and Indiana couldn't get out. Once she got out of the door, she said to us quickly, "Where is the board?" I looked at Shane confused.

"What board?" Shane asked. The girl looked frustrated and ran straight down the hall.

"Where were you guys playing Banyak Efek?" the girl asked. I pointed down the hall and she dashed as fast as she could. I ran after her while Shane got Frankie.

"Who are you and how did you get here?" I asked the girl, getting angrier by the second.

"My name is Mikayla. I get here because of the game. The game trapped me inside one time and I wasn't able to get out." She looked down at the coffee table and saw the game. "I see you guys decided to play. You have no idea what you have gotten into." I looked at her confused but looked towards the stairs as I saw Frankie running down with Shane close behind.

"Hi! I'm Frankie! Who are you? How old are you?" Frankie asked once he had reached the bottom step and saw Mikayla.

"I'm Mikayla. I'm 17. Now that all of that is done, can someone go next so the game can end quicker?" Mikayla said in an annoyed tone. I gave her a look and sat back down at the coffee table. Shane and Frankie sat down across from me again. I saw Mikayla reluctantly sit next to me, across from Frankie. I had the dice in my hand and was about to roll but I couldn't.

"What is your problem Mikayla?" I asked suddenly. I saw surprise on Mikayla's face for she had not been expecting that.

"Look, I got sucked into that game four months ago. I have been trying to survive in there. I miss my parents but I can't leave until I finish the game or someone else does. Now, will you just go!" she almost shouted to me at the end. I turned back to the board. I rolled my dice. _Three._ I watched as my player, the black pawn, moved by itself. This still amazed me, Shane, and Frankie but Mikayla acted as if it were nothing.

Once again, the sound of a card popping up and hitting the glass had made us _all_ jump. I hovered over the board and began to read the card out loud…

"_**Romeo and Juliet live in the past,**_

_**But there is a problem so listen to your task.**_

_**Save Juliet from being killed,**_

_**So her fate is differently sealed.**_"

I looked at everyone. The looks on their face told all. _We _had to change the ending of the best written love story ever. This was not going to be easy.

As I looked at everyone's faces once again, I felt something shake. I looked toward the china closet where Mrs. Gray kept all her special dishes and saw them shaking. The clock on the wall said 6:57 before it fell and crashed to the floor, shattering. I turned back and saw the look on Shane's face. He quickly reacted by covering Frankie's body with his own. Mikayla and I hugged as if each other was the others last hope. Out of nowhere, the shaking stopped and I looked up…


	4. Romeo & Juliet Begin Their Work

_**Hi everyone! It's Melinda here! Sorry for the wait! As you can see, I really got into the chapter. It's pretty long. **_

_**Anyway, when the dance part comes around(you'll know what I mean when you read it), I feel like it wasn't that good. Sorry! **_

_**Still hope you enjoy the rest of it and hopefully another chapter will be up either today or tomorrow! Enjoy!**_

**---Chapter 4--- Romeo and Juliet**

_Out of nowhere, the shaking stopped and I looked up…_

The place before me was no longer Shane's living room. I let go of Mikayla and stood up. The place we were now in had cobblestone roads and old Victorian style buildings everywhere. I turned towards Mikayla and grabbed her shoulders. "Where are we? You played this game before! Where are we?" I was now shaking her. Mikayla forcibly removed my hands from her shoulders and stepped back.

"Person-"

"It's Lilly."

"Lilly, I have played half of this game but every turn has a different card. No one is ever going to play the same card once except for only five cards. That's it! And do you even know how many cards there are? Three hundred!" Mikayla shouted back at me. I put my hand to my forehead. I wanted to scream so much. It was at that point that I realized what I was wearing. It was an old dress that girls always wore in plays in _Romeo and Juliet._ The dress had Capulet colors on it; yellow and red. My head shot up like speed lightening.

"Mikayla, don't tell me that this stupid game sent us all the way to VERONA! Verona isn't even real!" I yelled, now mad. My hair was still in a braid and I still had on my converses which looked a lot more comfortable than what Mikayla was wearing. Mikayla looked like a peasant. I looked around and saw townspeople starring at me. That's when another thing hit me. "Where's Shane and Frankie?"

Mikayla looked around her frantically. "Oh no," she finally said. I put both of my hands on my forehead, stressed. This was not good. Technically, this was considered Shane damaging something. If we can't find them, then I don't know what bad thing will happen.

"Juliet!" someone called out from the street. Me and Mikayla looked at each other, than looked around for Juliet. That person came over to me and Mikayla. "Juliet! Juliet, you need to come. Lady Capulet wants you now." The person began to pull on my arm.

"Help me, Mikayla!" I yelled as I tried to get the person off me. They were pulling on me hard and I couldn't get them off of me. "Mikayla, I need you to go and get help!" Mikayla nodded. "I'll probably be at the Capulet house!" I yelled as I got pulled out of distance. I saw Mikayla run away to get help.

Mikayla ran and ran until she literally ran into someone. "Sorry," she said quickly. She got up and brushed herself off. She looked up and saw the person she ran into was wearing blue and black. _A Montague. _Once Mikayla got a look at the face, she literally almost screamed from happiness. It was Shane, and Frankie was standing right beside him. "Oh my gosh! Shane!" Mikayla almost chocked him to death from the hug she gave him. "Shane, I need your help!"

Shane looked at Mikayla, still a little confused. "Ok, what do you need help with? And what is going on here?"

"Shane, the game transported us to Verona. Yes, Verona isn't real but that game is different. Anyway, people think Lilly is Juliet and-" Mikayla was cut off there by Shane. He began pacing.

"Mikayla, where is she now?" Shane asked, clearly worried.

"The Capulet house. We must go now," Mikayla responded. Shane nodded and they began walking, Frankie still with them. They got stopped again, this time by Benvolio.

"Romeo, I know how you can get over Rosaline," Benvolio started until he spotted Mikayla. He bowed and kissed her hand. "And who do we have here?" asked Benvolio seductively. Mikayla giggled a little.

"Mikayla, we don't have time for this. We need to go to the Capulet house and get Lilly back before Shakespeare has his way," said Shane. Shane grabbed Frankie's hand and began to walk away.

"Romeo, what are you doing?" asked Benvolio. Shane turned around and faced him.

"His name is Shane, not Romeo," Frankie said, finally speaking up. Benvolio bent down to Frankie's height.

"Little man, I have known thou cousin for thy entire life. This is thou cousin Romeo. I'm sorry if you are confused," responded Benvolio. Shane grabbed Benvolio's shoulder and pulled him up.

"He's telling the truth," Shane said. "Dude, we just want to get Lilly back. You can help us or not but people are mistaking her for Juliet. I need to get her back before something happens."

"Romeo, this is great news!" says Benvolio. Shane gave him a confused look and was about to respond when Benvolio continued. "You have found new love with this girl named Lilly! We must get her!"

"Wait," Shane began, "if I say that Lilly is my love then you will help me get her?" Benvolio nodded. "Fine, then I'm in love with Lilly. Will you help us get her back now?" Shane said impatiently.

"Of course," said Benvolio. "And where is thou beauty that has stolen thy cousins' heart?" asked Benvolio.

"The Capulet house," Shane responded, beginning to walk away with Frankie and Mikayla trailing close behind. Benvolio ran up to them as fast as he could.

"You cannot go there. You are not allowed there since you are a Montague! You will get thy self killed! I mustn't let you go," said Benvolio, protesting Shane's actions.

"Look dude, Lilly has been my best friend since we were born and I am not going to let her kill herself. I am not Romeo. I am from a place called New Jersey. This man named William Shakespeare wrote this all. He created you, Benvolio. In his story, Romeo kills himself because he thinks that Juliet is truly dead and when Juliet wakes up later and sees that Romeo is dead, she kills herself. I am not going to let her do that. Although Lilly wouldn't want to, she would probably be forced to." Benvolio looked at Shane, not able to comprehend everything that he was just told.

"Ok, Shane of New Jersey. I will still help you. You seem like a notable man. You have my word," Benvolio said after a long pause. Benvolio then put his hand over his heart to show his promise of his word. "Shane of New Jersey, we must go at nighttime. There is a party tonight at the Capulet's house and everyone is wearing masks. That is when you shall make your move."

"Look, Ben," Shane began, earning a look from Benvolio about his nickname, "you can just call me Shane." Benvolio nodded. "How long do we have until dark?" asked Shane.

"About an hour," said Benvolio. Shane nodded and huddled the group together, figuring out tonight's plan.

I was dragged to the Capulet house against my will. I was shoved into my room where a woman was waiting for me. "Juliet, why must you run off? Haven't you learned thy lesson yet? Lady Capulet is not pleased and will be even angrier if I do not help you be ready for the ball tonight." I was guessing that this was Nurse. I never really read Romeo and Juliet but I knew some of it. I guess I really shouldn't fall asleep in class anymore. I turned towards Nurse when the doors closed.

"Nurse, I am not Juliet," I said. Nurse laughed at me. I was confused. "Nurse, I am not Juliet. My name is Lilly Truscott and I'm from New Jersey; not Verona. I don't know why everyone is thinking that I am Juliet because I am not." Nurse laughed even more.

"Oh silly, Juliet! Lady Capulet wants you ready for the ball. Now, let me help you dress and don't fuss like you always do." I looked at Nurse like she was mad. Of course, this was the olden days. Like ancient history old but this was their customs. Oh how I really hate this right now.

---

It was about an hour later and the party had begun. I was to come later on. I knew this part of the play, I think it was when Romeo sees Juliet for the first time. The only problem is that I am supposedly Juliet but I have no idea who Romeo is. Nurse left me alone for a little while, just like I asked, and this gave me time to think. My thoughts were interrupted by a rock thrown and hitting the floor of my, well Juliet's, balcony. I heard voices beneath.

I walked over to the railing of the balcony and saw a guy down there. His face turned up to me and I saw who it was. _Shane._ I opened my mouth to speak but his voice began before mine. When he began speaking, I could tell he couldn't stop. It was like the game put a curse on us and we had to go by the play while we still change it.

"_But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?  
__It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.  
__Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,  
__Who is already sick and pale with grief,  
__That thou her maid art far more fair than she:  
__Be not her maid, since she is envious;  
__Her vestal livery is but sick and green  
__And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.  
__It is my lady, O, it is my love!  
__O, that she knew she were!_" said Shane, trying to stop his mouth from uttering more words. He looked confused. If we were supposed to go by the play then this was out of order. I know that the balcony scene happens after Romeo and Juliet dance.

"Shane!" I whisper-yelled. Shane looked up at me again and began climbing the vines next to the balcony. Once he reached the balcony, he jumped off and walked over to me.

"Lilly!" Shane said happily. He pulled me into a tight hug and I hugged back, missing my best friend and fearing what would happen. "Lilly, we are going to help you escape."

"We?" I asked. Shane pointed below and I saw Mikayla, Frankie, and Benvolio. "Shane, I have to get out of here now. Everyone thinks I'm Juliet. If we change the fate of Juliet, it would either be by me marrying Paris or escaping and trust me, Paris definitely isn't the fairest of them all." Shane nodded at me. He grabbed my hand and started pulling me to the edge of the balcony where the vines lie.

"Lilly, everyone thinks I'm Romeo. It is not going good for me either." Right at that moment, my door began to open. I knew it was Nurse.

"Go hide!" I whispered to Shane. Shane nodded and began to climb down the vines. I walked over to the door and opened it.

"I see you have gotten yourself ready," said Nurse annoyed. I nodded. I was wearing a ball gown. It was a tan colored dress with some pink and purple on the top part where it makes a sort of V-neck lining. I secretly smiled to myself for I still had my converses on. "Well, your mother wants you downstairs now. So come on." Nurse began to push me out the door. I could not let this happen.

"Nurse, I don't feel good. Maybe I should lay down," I said, imitating that I had a stomach ache. I needed to stay here so I could escape but Nurse would not have it.

"Juliet, you pulled this last time. Lady Capulet will not have you missing another party. You need to dance with Paris tonight also. No skipping out at all," finished Nurse. Nurse was definitely not on my favorites list right now. After much refusing, Nurse had managed to get me to the top of the stairs. I saw Capulet and Lady Capulet. I tried to get away from them but could not.

"Young Juliet, you are late. I will not tolerate this. Paris has been waiting for thee. You shall be ashamed," said Lady Capulet. _Yeah right,_ I thought. I faced people who scared me more than Lady Capulet did. I rolled my eyes and ignored everything she said. Ok so one thing has changed, Paris left because I was late. That changes one thing to Juliet's fate.

"Mother, I shall dance," I said, doing my best to imitate the actual Juliet. I went down the stairs, ignoring Lady Capulet's protests, and once I reached the bottom, put on my mask. I got lost in the crowd of people dancing. I saw a man out of the corner of my eye. It was Tybalt. I could just tell. I dodged my way in a different direction to avoid the fearful person and bumped into someone else. The person I bumped into smiled and I could see it even with the mask. "Shane!" I said happily yet quietly. I hugged him tight.

"Lilly, you might wanna let go. People are beginning to stare," responded Shane. I laughed and let go. "What is something that didn't happen in the play during the party?" Shane asked.

"Romeo was talking about kissing Juliet but they never did," said Mikayla. Me and Shane shared confused looks and looked at Mikayla.

"Romeo was actually talking about how Juliet's lips were like a saint's and Juliet was saying that a saint doesn't move and they were just talking. They didn't dance either," said Frankie. Me and Shane were even more confused. How did Frankie know more about this than we did.

"Just dance," said Benvolio. I looked at Shane waiting for his answer. Shane sighed and bowed, holding out his hand.

"May I have this dance?" he asked, obviously not into this. I laughed.

"Sure," I said in the same tone he used. Shane shot me a glare and I laughed a little more. Shane grabbed my hand and led me to the dance floor. We looked at the other couples around us that were dancing and imitated them. Shane put one of his hands on my waist and another in my hand. I put my free hand on his shoulder. We began moving but mostly after three feet, we turned and spinned, then moved three feet again.

"Does it scare you?" I asked in the middle of our dance. Shane looked at me confused.

"Does what scare me?" asked Shane. I sighed.

"Going by the play. Although it might be out of order, you know the ending. I don't want to be forced to kill myself because of what William Shakespeare wrote. I don't know what to do," I said, the fear clear in my voice. Shane looked at me concerned.

"Lilly, I will not let that happen. You're my best friend and if you die, I practically die too. We will get out of here, don't worry." I nodded at my best friend, glad he could understand. The dance was coming to the end but the night surely wasn't. Tybalt had seen us and began coming toward us, anger written on his face. Shane had seen this too. "Come on Lilly, we got to get you out of here." Shane kept hold of one of my hands and led me to an exit where Mikayla, Frankie and Benvolio were waiting.

"What is going on?" asked Benvolio.

"Tybalt saw them," said Mikayla.

"How'd you know that?" asked Frankie who was clearly reading our minds or something.

"Because he's coming this way," said Mikayla, becoming fearful. I turned around and saw Tybalt charging towards us. Shane instinctively stepped in front of me, Frankie, and Mikayla. Benvolio drew his sword.

"Young man, I shall hold them off. Escape into the night with thy's beauty and her friends. You must leave now or your time to escape will be gone," said Benvolio.

"Thank you Benvolio. You are a true hero," said Shane. Benvolio nodded then yelled for us to go and we ran. We ran like we knew nothing but to run. Frankie and Mikayla stopped after a long while for a moment. "Guys, we need to keep going."

"I can't run anymore," said Frankie who looked exhausted. We just ran two miles without stopping and I was kind of getting tired but I knew we needed to keep running. I bite my lip and looked around. We stopped right by a farm. There was grass unlike the pebbled streets of Verona. Knowing that we needed something to help us keep moving, I shifted my eyes through the farm to see if these olden people has horses. My eyes lit up when I saw two horses tied to a fence. I walked over and undid the reins that tied them to the fence. Still holding onto the reins, I pulled the horses over to everyone else.

"We can use the two horses. Mikayla, do you know how to ride a horse?" I asked. Mikayla nodded her head, too tired to talk. I knew Shane couldn't and I didn't think Frankie could either. "Ok, so Mikayla can take Shane and I'll take Frankie. We could ride the horses the rest of the way." Everyone nodded and we began to get ready to ride.


	5. The Game Brings The Walls She Built Down

**---Chapter 5: The Game Brings Her Walls Down---**

_Everyone nodded and we began to get ready to ride…_

The galloping of the horses were the only things that could be heard. No one knew where we were headed at all. The only thing that any of us knew was that we were in the middle of nowhere. Literally. We were in the middle of a desert. The only thing surrounding us was golden sand which blew in our face. "Lilly, do you have anything to drink?" asked a tired Frankie.

"Sorry Frankie but I don't," I said to the little boy. Disappointment filled his eyes, I could tell. I was always good at telling feelings from the eyes. I stopped our horse and saw Mikayla stopped once we did. We all climbed down from the horses and met in between them.

"What's up?" asked Mikayla. She pushed some her black hair out of her face. I looked around us, still not seeing anything but sand everywhere.

"Does anyone has water or something to drink?" I asked. Shane shook he head as Mikayla said no. "Let's check the nap sacks on the horses." Everyone agreed and we began checking for the longed item. Shane shouted only minutes later.

"Yo! Over here!" yelled Shane. We all ventured over to where Shane was standing. Mikayla grabbed the black metal bottle from his hand.

"Yeah, it's water," said Mikayla. She then shoved Frankie the water bottle. For a moment, I was actually thinking that this girl was actually nice but now she's turning into the bitch she was when she came. I desperately needed sunglasses at the moment for the sun was shining it rays down right above us. I thought it'd still be night. Shane walked closer to me to whisper something while Frankie began explaining a couple collections he had, to Mikayla.

"Am I the only one who thought that she was actually becoming nice?" asked Shane in a whisper. I open my mouth to respond when a bunch of sand flew into my mouth. Shane and I exchanged confused glances and looked at the direction of which the sand came from. When we looked, we saw something that we didn't expect. "Sand storm!" Shane yelled. Before we could move, the sand storm had enveloped us. None of us even knew where the other one was. I reached my hand out, attempting to find something to hold onto or use to take cover. My hand came across something and I ran to it, hugging and holding onto it with all my life. With surprise, the object starting hugging back for dear life. The object was taller than me and it seemed to feel like a human. My footing was lost for a split second and when I put my left foot down, it landed on a right foot which had on a Converse. _Shane._

I began noticing that my dress was disappearing and every inch that disappeared showed another inch of my gray skinny jeans. I screamed once I noticed that the winds had become tougher. All of a sudden, the winds became dangerously quiet. Within another moment, we were falling. It was hard to explain because it didn't feel like we were falling but we could feel ground coming closer and closer. When our feet touched ground, the four of us fell down and onto the floor. A pile of sand was beneath us and covered the coffee table. I looked around. We were back at Shane's house.

Something caught my eye. A broken clock on the floor. The time said 6:59. It was only two minutes after we left. I got up and began walking, almost tripping over Shane in the process, to the TV. I turned the television on and flipped to the information channel. The time said 6:59 pm and the date was May 17th, the same day as we began playing the game.

"Guys, something is up with this game," I said as I began pacing.

"What do you mean Emmy?" asked Frankie. I continued pacing, trying to figure everything out in my mind. I will most definitely sound crazy when I tell them.

"Only two minutes went by here in the real world while almost two days went on in Verona. This game must have powers or something! We were forced to say lines of _Romeo & Juliet_ against out will. Nothing about this game is normal," I said.

"Then, how about we quit," said Shane as he stood and began wiping himself off. I turned my head when I heard Mikayla laugh bitterly.

"You guys are funny. You wanna quit the game." Mikayla faked a couple laughs then looked serious. "You can't quit this game! None of this stuff goes away until someone wins the game. If you pack up that game right now and put it back in the box then we _all_ get stuck in it. It's happened before!" Mikayla yelled. An emotion ran through her eyes so quickly that I could have sworn that I missed it. That emotion? _Hurt._ I suddenly knew at that moment that Mikayla was not a bitch her whole life but the game changed her. Someone packed up the game and left. They left her alone in this weird world within that game. A world where you had no chance unless you learned to survive on your own. A world where Mikayla was able to put up brick walls to stop anyone from knowing anything about her. As we sat down at the coffee table to continue playing the game, I instantly knew. Those walls that Mikayla built up, in the forest or with Indian tribes, that kept her so strong, were finally beginning to slowly come down.

_**Sorry for it being so short! The next one will be longer! Thank you to everyone! Hope you all enjoyed this!**_

_**Melinda.**_


	6. Red Carpets Dress Things Up

**---Chapter 6: Red Carpets Dress Up Things---**

_Those walls that Mikayla built up, in the forest or with Indian tribes, that kept her so strong, were finally beginning to slowly come down…_

It was Shane's turn to roll. He picked up the dice and rolled. _Eight._ His blue pawn began moving eight spaces. This time, we were all prepared for the card to pop and when it did Shane's face held a look of confusion.

"_**Millions of screaming fans,**_

_**Never knowing what the future plans.**_

_**Life of the rich and famous is hard,**_

_**See what it holds and don't forget your V.I.P. card.**_" Shane read aloud.

"Rock star!" yelled Frankie almost instantly.

"What do you mean Frankster?" asked Shane.

"The card means rock star. Something about it." Frankie shrugged his shoulders. "That's all I can think of."

"That makes sense but how is that a task or how come we didn't get placed somewhere?" I asked. I looked at Mikayla since she had been in the longer than us. When I looked at her, her eyes were fixed on the coffee table. "Is everything ok Mikayla?"

"The game is gone. We have to find it. Shane's a rock star but this doesn't make any sense. The game has never gone missing before," said Mikayla.

"Maybe the game went to a club that celebrities always go to. Or an awards show?" said Frankie. Shane stood up and picked up Frankie and hugged him.

"Frankie! You're a genius!" Shane yelled. At that moment, a head full of curls bounded into the house. It was Nate, Shane's younger brother and also one of my close friends. He's the same age as me too. I saw Nate roll up the sleeves, or what was left of them, to his red shirt as he caught his breath and leaned against the front door. Nate walked into the living room a few minutes later.

"Nate, what happened?" I asked, trying to hold in a giggle, as I saw pieces of his black skinny jeans were missing and pieces of his red shirt and white undershirt were too. Nate looked confused, frustrated, and mad.

"Shane, what is going on?" Nate asked. Then he saw the living room and the condition it was in. "What the hell happened in here? Did a tornado just come in and break everything?" asked Nate with sarcastic coating in his voice. Shane and I shared a look.

"Nate, I'll explain everything later," said Shane as Nate began pacing. "Now, what happened to you?" Nate stopped pacing and looked at us all.

"I was at Miley's house and I was telling her about how we no longer had anything in common and how we should break up. She agreed and we decided that we would still be friends. Right after that, Jackson ran in telling us that there were paparazzi outside. I was confused because no one knows Miley's secret. I decided to go out and see what it was all about and when I did, paparazzi started flashing pictures of me, and girls were pulling me everywhere yelling, 'Oh My Gosh! Nate Gray! I love Connect 3!' and all this other stuff.

"I ran here and everyone was still following me and people were asking me to sign their Connect 3 CD and it had our faces on it! All three of ours! Me, you, and Jason! Now Shane, will you please tell me what's going on." Nate finished and let out a breath.

"The game dragged your brothers into it. It usually doesn't do that," said Mikayla, finally speaking up. She stood up and walked over to where me, Shane, Frankie, and Nate were. "It happened twice with me. They don't have to join the game but they will be dragged anywhere we go."

"What the f-" Nate began.

"Frankie is here!' I yelled to cut him off.

"What's going on?" asked Nate. Shane stepped towards him and put his hands on his shoulders.

"Nate, you're going to want to sit down." Nate was about to protest when Jason came in. His head of curls was crazier than Nate's. He walked over to us.

"Shane and Nate, what is going on?" asked Jason. It looks like the fans attacked Jason too. I pulled Nate and Jason over to the couch and they sat down. Mikayla stood in front of them ready to explain everything. "Wait, who are you?"

Mikayla let out a frustrated sigh and said, "Mikayla Winters, age 17. Now, we need to talk." With that being said, Mikayla explained everything. Everything about the game which included the last card about them. Nate and Jason had emotionless faces. Their eyes were confused. It was unreal. This was my time to step in.

"Think Jumanji. It is just like that except this game is different a little," I said. Jason nodded. He was 21 and seemed to understand but why won't Nate?

"Haha very funny now what is the truth?" said Nate. The front door to the Gray's house opened and Amber Greene walked in. She is a world famous publicist. Her long brown hair was curled and a hands free ear piece was in her ear. Her maroon business suit matched her tan skin tone. Amber hung up the phone and looked at the Gray brothers.

"What are you three still doing? I thought I told you yesterday that the MTV Music and Movies awards were tonight! You need to be there by 7:30! We have 25 minutes to get you ready and glamorous for the red carpet! It is supposed to be bigger than the Grammy's this year! Now go get ready!" yelled Amber. The three confused Gray boys walked to their rooms. Amber then turned to Frankie, Mikayla, and I.

"Ok, girls, aren't you going too? You're the boys' dates. Where are Noah and Macy?" asked Amber.

"Who?" I asked.

"Macy, Jason's date and Noah, Frankie's date. Oh, Frankie your outfit is in your room. Go get ready." Frankie ran to his room. "Ok girls, just go get ready. Your dresses are in the guest room. I need to find Macy and Noah." Amber walked away as she began talking into the ear piece. I looked at the clock. It only said 7:03. It had been longer than 4 minutes from when we came home from Verona. Time was going slow for a reason. The game was causing it.

Mikayla and I stood up and I showed her to the guest room where two dresses lay with a card on each one with a name on it. There was a red one with a card on it that said my name on it. A blue one was next to it and Mikayla's name was on it. We shared confused looks and began grabbing our stuff. About ten minutes later we were ready. I looked at the clock and it said 7:04. Time was definitely going slow.

I had a strapless red dress on that reached to about just above my knees. I took my hair out of my braid. I let it lay curly on my shoulders. I didn't apply any makeup because that just wasn't me. Instead of the heels that Amber left for me, I put on the red Converses that I left here once. I looked to see if Mikayla was ready.

Mikayla's dress was a strapless blue one that reached just above her knees like mine. She left her hair the way it was and put on light blue eye shadow. She slipped on the blue heels that Amber left for her. We both walked out the door moments later.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, the boys, Macy, and Noah were all down there waiting for us. Nate's tux was baby blue and matched Mikayla perfectly. Jason has a white tux on which matched Macy's light pink dress well. Frankie had a gray tux on which matched Noah's gray dress perfectly. I looked at Shane. He had on a black tux with a red tie. I looked down and saw he had on his red high tops. He walked over to me and laughed.

"I guess good minds think alike," he said as he looked at my shoes. I laughed too and we began walking to the limo that waited outside. Inside the limo, Amber kept trying to talk to me and yell at me for wearing Converses. I just ignored her and _attempted_ talking to Mikayla. We pulled in front of the massive theater where the awards were to be held. Paparazzi were everywhere and interviewers were waiting for the biggest celebrities to interview. Amber yelled at us to get out of the car, not make a fool of Connect 3, and don't screw up at all. Frankie and Noah left first, followed by Jason and Macy, then Nate and Mikayla, which left me and Shane to last.

"Aren't you nervous?" I asked Shane as we smiled and walked down a small amount of the red carpet.

"No, I am used to crowds. Don't you remember that I was in chorus and even performed for the Pope," Shane answered. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Don't rub it in that you have a great voice and I suck at singing," I said. Shane was about to deny my horrible voice when a reporter called Shane over. We began walking over, Shane putting his arm around my waist so I would come with him.

"So, Shane Gray, how does it feel to have fourteen nominations tonight?" asked the reporter. Shane looked shocked but it passed quickly and he recovered.

"It's great actually. We never thought that Connect 3 would get so big," he said smiling. The reporter nodded.

"So, Shane, who is your date?" asked the reporter.

"This is my best friend in the entire world, Lilly Truscott," he said. I smiled and nodded. The reporter looked at us skeptically but continued.

"Ok… so, did you guys plan the shoes at all?" the reporter asked, looking at our shoes. The cameraman focused the camera on our feet then brought it back up to our faces. I laughed and Shane answered.

"Actually, no we didn't. My shoes were really uncomfortable so I found my red high tops and since they matched the tie and they were comfortable, I said, 'Why not.'" Shane looked at me.

"I don't like heels at all. I am always caught wearing converses so this is no different for me," I said. The reporter nodded.

"So, you two aren't dating at all?" the reporter asked.

Shane shook his head and began, "No, we're just friends." He looked over at Nate and Jason and they were waving for me and him to come over to them. We said our goodbye to the reporter and walked over to them.

"Ok, we're going to do separate pictures with our dates then a group pictures for paparazzi and then head inside," said Jason. We all nodded our heads.

_Meanwhile…_

Mrs. Gray was putting her clothes from her suitcase away in the hotel room since the dinner was delayed. She put on the TV and turned on E! news. Ryan Seacrest appeared on the screen. "Tonight's the hottest night in Hollywood and only E! has the access to the hottest stars around." Ryan smiled then showed some videos. A certain video caught Mrs. Gray's eye. "I got an interview with a member of the hottest thing around, Connect 3!"

A video began where Ryan began saying, "So, Shane Gray, how does it feel to have fourteen nominations tonight?" he asked. Mrs. Gray's head shot up. '_What was Shane doing on the TV?'_ was what Mrs. Gray thought. She continued watching the interview and gasped when she saw Lilly. _Where was Frankie?_ Mrs. Gray saw an album cover pop up on the TV with the faces of her three eldest boys. At that point, Mrs. Gray's body met the floor as she fainted…

_Meanwhile…_

The awards ceremony was about two hours long. Connect 3 ended winning everything they were nominated for. As we were leaving the building, Shane felt his phone vibrate. He opened his phone to find a text message from a blocked number.

_Go to 'Spotlight' after the awards. Big party._

Shane read the message to us all and we began heading to _Spotlight_, the hottest celebrity club in New York City. As we inched closer to the front doors, the sound of music blasting through speakers began coming so clear to us. I stopped as we were about ten feet from the entrance. Shane looked at me weirdly. "What's wrong?" he asked.

I looked at Shane and then to Frankie and then back to Shane. "Um, I'm not gonna go inside." I looked over at Frankie again. "Want to keep me company out here Frankie?" I asked, hoping he'll say yes and not want to go in there.

"Sure Lilly. We can play goldfish or something or get ice cream!" Frankie shouted excitedly. I laughed at his excitement. Jason nodded.

"We better get inside before the game gets misplaced," Jason said. Everyone agreed. I was surprised at how well Jason is grasping onto this. Everyone else, except for me and Frankie, began to go inside the club. There was one figure who was hesitant. It was Shane.

"Are you sure you're ok out here by yourself? I mean, what if some guy-" Shane began to say but I cut him off. I knew his protective side was kicking in.

"Shane, you can stay out here with me and Frankie if that'll make you feel better." Shane let out a breath of air and nodded. We laughed for a moment. I heard something rustle. I looked to my left, letting myself absent mindedly out of the conversation, and saw a shadow. The shadow was running and didn't want to be seen. A gut feeling told me something was bad about this shadow but my curious self just wanted to see what was going on so I got up and began slowly walking towards the alleyway and towards that _shadow_.

_**Hey everyone! Thank you to everyone new to my story! Thanks for everything! Hope you all like it and continue to read this! Thanks for everything!**_

_**-Melinda**_


	7. Shadows and Bulls

_**Hey everyone! First of all, you all owe a big thanks to **_Jonas-Girly-19 **_because I was actually reading one of her stories when I got inspired by Shane/Lilly's relationship. So you BETTER thank her for giving me my inspiration back to this story! Hope you all enjoy!_**

**---Chapter 7: That Gut Feeling…---**

_A gut feeling told me something was bad about this shadow but my curious self just wanted to see what was going on so I got up and began slowly walking towards the alleyway and towards that **shadow**…_

"Lilly, what are you doing?" asked Shane. I turned around and saw him looking at me. I was about to answer when Jason, Nate, and Mikayla came out of the club, leaving Macy in there to watch Noah.

"Guys, it's not in there," said Mikayla. "Man, I _hate_ this game!" she said as she sat on top of the hood of a nearby car. Frankie began to run towards the alley.

"Frankie! No!" I yelled. I took off running after Frankie. I didn't know why he started to run towards the alleyway but he did. I heard Shane's footsteps as he began to run after us. "Frankie, stop!" I yelled again. Frankie just kept running. He stopped at the end of the alleyway and picked something up. We all ran towards him.

"Frank, why-" began Shane before he spotted the game in Frankie's hand. Shane ruffled Frankie's hair and smiled. "You found the game. Quick someone needs to roll," said Shane. Mikayla sat the game on the ground and sat on her knees. She grabbed the dice and rolled. _Eleven_. Mikayla's red piece began moving. her crystal ball was already in the middle so it was getting closer to the end.

A card popped up and it read,

"_**Hopefully you'll not be the only one wearing red,**_

'_**Cause if you are, you'll surely be dead.**_

_**You tease them and taunt them for some shows,**_

_**Just be careful of their mighty blows**_." Mikayla read aloud. She looked up at us, confusion written on all of our faces. "What are they even talking about?" Mikayla said with an attitude. I rolled my eyes at her. How were we supposed to know? I saw the shadow ducking behind nearby garbage cans. I stood up, prepared to go after it when the rumbling of thunder could be heard. We all looked at the sky, waiting for the rain to come. It didn't. Instead, the ground below us began to separate, Mikayla, Frankie and I on one side, Nate, Jason, and Shane on the other.

"Guys!" I yelled. My voice was drowned out by more rumbling. Our screams were barely heard as we seemed to be falling again. When we landed, we were all spread out. I looked to my right to see Frankie but no Mikayla. We seemed to be in an old building that looked like the Coliseum in Rome. But no, this was not Rome. My gut feeling told me that. I could faintly see three figures standing up across the arena. They seemed to spot us too since they waved their hands around frantically. I waved back before searching for Mikayla.

"Franks, do you see Mikayla at all?" I asked him, bending down to his level. It was daytime wherever we were, causing Frankie to block the sun out of his eyes with his hand. I saw a tan sleeve on his arm. He was wearing an olden Spanish type outfit. We must be in Spain. I took a wild guess and thought that the other Gray boys were also. I looked at myself to see a flowing white dress with colorful designs on it cascading from my body.

"She's in the ring," Frankie said simply. I was confused for a moment before he pointed to the middle of the arena, the only place where it wasn't stone; just sand. I watched as she looked around herself, panicking as she got up.

"Mikayla!" I yelled as I went to the edge. She looked in my direction and ran over.

"What the hell happened? Where are we?" she asked me. I shrugged and shook my head.

"I have no idea. I think olden Spain. Wait, why are you in the ring thing?" I asked her.

"I have no idea," she said. "And look at my clothes! I look like a guy!" she said, pointing between herself and Frankie, finally noticing that they almost had the same outfit on. I stretched down and tapped her shoulder.

"What's attached to your wrist cuff?" Mikayla looked down and saw a red cape. "I don't have a good feeling about this," I said as I bit my lip. Mikayla shot me a 'no duh' look.

"Well at least you're up there!" she pointed out.

"¡El combate a la muerte empieza ahora!" a man's voice yelled. It was loud enough without a microphone that the crowded arena quieted down before cheering loudly. I looked towards Mikayla.

"What does that mean?" I asked. She looked at me, fear evident in her eyes. She hesitated before answering.

"It means, 'The fight to the death begins now!'" she said. My breath hitched. This was definitely not good. I ran my fingers through my hair as Mikayla put a hat on her head.

"Look, just, try to stay alive I guess," I began. Mikayla shot me another look and tried to retort but I cut her off. "I'm going to go find Nate, Jason, and Shane to see if we can figure this out," I said before grabbing Frankie's hand and rushing over to the boys. We reached them shortly.

"Do you know what that man said?" Jason asked. I bit my lip and nodded.

"Guys, we have to get Mikayla out of there. I am not joking when I say its life or death for her," I said. I opened my mouth to talk again when the cheering from the crowd got louder. We all turned out attention to where Mikayla was and saw a wooden wall being lifted, a bull slowly emerging from the enclosed space. Oh no. I looked around us, seeing people waving red handkerchiefs. I watched as Mikayla noticed this too for she gulped. She began walking backwards, backing up to the wall against her will. She reached up, trying to jump up and out of it. The bull then noticed the red cape attached to her wrist.

The bull huffed and began to prepare to charge at her.

"Mikayla! Watch out!" Shane yelled from behind me. I would have yelled sooner but I couldn't move. I was scared and in shock and it wasn't even me down there. Mikayla slowly turned around, afraid of what she might see. Her eyes widened as she realized the bull's state. He was angry. Mikayla reacted quickly as the bull charged towards her, turning right and running for her life. The bull hit its horns against the clay type wall, shaking its head before searching for Mikayla again.

"Guys, we have to do something!" I said nervously.

"Like what?" Jason said. Jason, you were once the ray of sunshine that could make my worst situations better. You have officially lost that title. Jason could sense what I was thinking and rolled his eyes at my sarcasm.

"I know," said Nate as he ran off.

"Where are you going?!"

"What are you doing?!"

"What the hell is going on in that mind of yours?!"

"Huh?" Frankie said last, looking between all of us. No one answered him; we all just kept our eyes fixed on Nate as he went to the opposite side of the arena that Mikayla was at. If he was going to help her, shouldn't he be _near_ her? We watched as Mikayla ducked and ran away from the bull again. Most people now-a-days would have been long gone within the first 15 seconds. I was surprised, and glad, at how long Mikayla was lasting. I watched intently as she finally ripped the red cape from her wrist and threw it to the ground.

"Shit," Mikayla mumbled as she noticed the bull still running after her. She looked directly across from her to see Nate signaling her over. Mikayla bit her lip, faked to the right and then went left to reach Nate. As she came closer to him, he dropped his arms down.

"Jump!" he yelled to her. She did as was told and grabbed his arms before jumping up and off the ground. Nate quickly tried to pull her up. Jason noticed his struggle and ran over to him, Shane following quickly behind. They helped Nate pull Mikayla up, the bull seemingly to just miss Mikayla. Frankie and I ran over to join them, watching as Mikayla struggled to stand up. I looked at her, noticing red seeping through her crème colored pants.

"Mikayla, you're bleeding! Do the bull get you?" I asked her, rushing to inspect her leg. Mikayla bit her lip, trying to not whimper. Nate looked apologetically at her.

"Mikayla, I'm sorry. I should've told my brothers to follow me. We could have gotten you up quicker and you wouldn't have gotten hurt," said Nate quickly.

"It's fine. I mean, at least this is better than dying," she said at a lame attempt to crack a joke. Weirdly, we all blinked our eyes at the same time and when we opened them, we were in the living room in the Gray house once again, in our regular clothes. I slowly rolled up the right jean leg of her blue skinny jeans. She fanned herself, unbuttoning her blue and white striped button up shirt, revealing her white shirt beneath it. I bit my tongue to not gasp at the deep cut the horns caused.

"Whoa! That a big boo-boo!" Frankie said, loudly I might add. I gave him a look and he mumbled a 'sorry'. Mikayla fidgeted before grabbing her black hair and putting it in a messy bun at the nape of her neck. I did the same.

"Guys, get her some ice, she's burning up," I said. I turned around to grab a towel off of the coffee table when I saw the shadow in the corner of the room. I quietly got up and walked over to the shadow. "Who are you?" I asked as I neared it. I felt everyone's eyes on me as I walked closer to it. The shadow suddenly moved, showing itself in the light. It was a girl. Well, not really considering she looked to be about 20. She had long blonde hair, brown high-lights here and there.

"My name's Maddie. I'm the purple piece," she said quietly as she wrapped her arms across her chest, covering the long black short sleeve shirt she was wearing.

_**Hope you all liked it! I've got my inspiration back for this so expect more chapters! Thanks to all my reviews and I hope you liked it!**_

_**~MeLiNdA**_


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